


Love Him Like a Son

by skamshit



Series: Love Spreads [3]
Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: I had fun writing this, M/M, Other, aka when the 15:15 - 01:01 clip dropped, because ive been imagining it, ever since we found out why even pulled away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-12-01 10:51:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11484843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skamshit/pseuds/skamshit
Summary: Eskild and Even meet. Eskild gives Even a talk.





	Love Him Like a Son

**Author's Note:**

> Read the idea and the series in order on Tumblr : https://skam-season4.tumblr.com/post/162878908303/giant-cannon-compliant-fic-love-spreads
> 
> Remember at the beginning of 5:10, after Even leaves, Eskild was like “That guy Even was cool. I met him in the bathroom this morning”? This is that. I think Eskild is a great friend and really underappreciated, because there is more to him than his loud personality. He has more quiet layers. I feel like Even and his mother are really close and she’s shameless, so look forwards to that. I tried to give this clip a good mix of it, and I tried to put the anon prompt and my own idea of how this went down in one. I hope it worked.

 

*** 

Sunday, October 30, 2016 at 7:23 am  
Even’s point of view  
Age 19

 

***

 

Even blinks awake groggily. He turns his head to his left and sees Isak resting on his arm, fast asleep and brow slightly furrowed. Even lies there for a moment, watching him sleep. Isak lets out soft breaths as his bare back gently rises and falls. It’s then that Even remembers that both of them are shirtless and in only boxers for pajamas.

Before he gets himself too riled up, he gently shoulders a sleeping Isak off of his chest before sliding out of bed, pulling on a nearby shirt. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and sees he has eight missed calls from Sonja, a string of text messages from her, and a new message from his mom.

 

***

 

He holds back a sigh, but doesn’t respond. He taps the back button and opens the message from his mother.

 

***

 

 

***

 

He blows out a breath before responding.

 

***

 

 

***

 

His mother  _knows_. He doesn’t even need to talk to her face to face to know that she  _knows_. Even thinks she probably knew from the first time he mentioned Isak to her. He puts down his phone with a small smile on his face before looking around Isak’s room.

This is the first time he really looks at it since he got here two days ago. Even likes to think he’s a fairly observant person with all the movies he’s seen, but he realizes he never  _really looked_ around the room he and Isak stumbled into, seeing as they were…  _occupied_ for most of his stay.

He leans over the bed, careful not to lose his balance and fall on the sleeping Isak.  The first thing he sees, and miraculously failed to notice, is the magazine cut out of a woman in a red swimsuit. He raises his eyebrows at this but chooses not to think too much of it. Even assumes Isak’s roommates don’t know about him based on how Isak has acted since Friday night.

There’s a plethora of troll memes, a few comic strips, and what looks like a photocopy of a foot, with a matching one on the other side of the wall, this one showing a head of curls and a forehead reading ‘basura’. He squints a little at the wall and sees a tiny black and white square taped near the bottom of the collage. It reads, “The Essential Simon and Garfunkel,” and seems to be a photo of Isak and his friend, Jonas, Even thinks his name is, with their faces edited onto the album cover. Even snorts a bit at this, and figures it must be some sort of inside joke, but it’s funny regardless.

Human nature gets the better of him, so he trudges out of Isak’s room as quietly as possible. He shuts the door softly and steps out into the hallway before realizing he has no idea where the bathroom is. He thinks back to friday night and remembers Isak’s directions to Sonja, and starts heading in that direction. The memory of the two interacting leaves a bad taste in his mouth. He heads down the hall and to the left, opening the bathroom door and stepping in, still mindful to be quiet.

After taking a leak, he washes his hands, still taking in all of his surroundings. He sees the little cup full of everyone’s toothbrushes and vaguely wonders what it would feel like to add his own toothbrush to the cup.

Before the thought can wander too far, Even is interrupted by the bathroom door swinging open. A man who Even can only assume is Eskild walks in and jumps when he notices Even.   
  
“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t, uh, ahem, didn’t realize that anyone was… in here. The lock is broken, so, uh… yeah.” Eskild trails off as his eyes sweep up and down Even’s body. “And… who are you? Are you… are you Noora’s new man? Did she finally get herself a Tinder account? Or… maybe… Linn’s guest?”   
  
Even shakes his head and sticks out a (clean) hand and offers it to Probably Eskild. “Even,” he offers, adding, “and no, not Noora or Linn. I’m Isak’s, uh,” he hesitates for a beat, trying to find the right word before just settling on, “guest.”  
  
Eskild raises his eyebrows at this and nods. “Oh, okay. Isak doesn’t usually have guests, so… yeah. I’m Eskild, by the way,” Eskild offers, confirming Even’s assumption. Even nods his head. The two stand there for a moment, letting the awkward conversation sink in. Eskild speaks up again after a long minute, “But, yeah, I didn’t hear you come in yesterday, I was home most of the day, unless you came in late, because I was out late with friends, we got drinks together last night.” Even shakes his head and figures it’s just easier to tell the truth.   
  
“No, I, uh… I got here on Friday night. Isak and I pregamed together.”  
  
Eskild’s eyebrows shoot up in suspicion, this time even higher than the last. “Oh! You’ve… you’ve been here since Friday?” Even nods. “I see.” Eskild nods slowly. “And you.. You’ve just been holed up in Isak’s smelly room for the entire weekend.” It doesn’t come out as a question, but Even nods along anyways, trying to look casual and not suspicious at all. Eskild looks at him with an expression he can’t read, scanning every detail of his face. Eskild takes a step towards him as something in his expression hardens.

“So, Even. I know what’s going on here, don’t worry.” Even simultaneously tenses at the idea of outing Isak but relaxes at the idea of not having to sneak around.

“He hasn’t really said anything to me, or probably anyone yet about whatever is going on here,” Eskild gesticulates in the direction of Even, “but I live with him. I’m not stupid.” Eskild drops his voice in pitch and volume. You should know that Isak is my roommate, but I love that kid like a  _son_. So if you, or anyone else comes rolling through my kollektiv and breaks that kid’s heart, I will come for you. Because that kid has been through too much already to add one more person fucking him over to his list. Because the only way I’ve see him open up and be vulnerable in front of anyone was when he was about to blackout from drinking his problems away. I don’t know if you’re just passing through. But if you do decide to stick around, you better make sure you give that boy every fibre of love and care you have in your body, because God knows it isn’t going to come from anywhere else. He seems grumpy on the outside, but he carries so much love inside that smelly teenage body of his. So when he’s ready to open up and let it all out, and if you’re the receiver, make sure that it’s reciprocated, or else end it before it’s too late. He is just starting to loosen up and be comfortable with himself for the first time in his life. I know him. And if this is ruined for him before he gets the chance to really tell people on his own terms and learn to love himself, he will never try again.” Eskild pauses and Even blinks at him, trying to absorb all this new information quickly. Eskild starts talking again, but this time, his tone is lighter. “But if you’re just a one night stand, or whatever, you can just forget I said all that.”

“Okay,” Even says meekly. He has no idea how he is supposed to react to that, but Eskild seems satisfied with the answer. Eskild’s eyes roam (a little longer than necessary) over Even’s cotton - covered chest before he looks back up.   
  
“Are you wearing my shirt?”   
  
Even gulps, still trying to comprehend Eskild’s monologue. He glances down at the shirt he threw on. It’s the same shirt he was wearing yesterday, with the big picture of Jesus on it.  
  
“Uh, yeah, it was just in Isak’s room, he lent it to me. I didn’t know it was yours.” Eskild hums and nods, eyes still on his chest, seemingly waiting for Even to say something else.

“Did you, uh, want it back?” Eskild’s eyes snap back up to Even’s as he opens his mouth. He takes a breath to say something, and then seems to reconsider his answer.   
  
“Uhm, yeah, actually, if you wouldn’t mind.” Even has been desperately looking for a way to make this situation less awkward, and suddenly sees one. He’s aware of the fact that Eskild likes men and has been checking him out for the past five minutes, so he grabs the neck of the t-shirt and yanks it off of his back. Suddenly he’s standing in only his boxers in the kollektivet bathroom, meeting Isak’s roommate for the first time. He hands the balled up shirt to an open - mouthed Eskild. Even shrugs his shoulders back and stands a little taller, regaining his cool. He flashes a big smile at Eskild and says, “It was really nice meeting you Eskild. I hope I’ll see you around again, yeah? If Isak has me back, that is.” Eskild nods vigorously as he breaks eye contact once more in favor of raking his eyes lower down Even’s body.

“Yeah, yeah, that would be… uh… nice,” Eskild says with glazed eyes. Even offers one last wide, shit - eating grin before sliding past Eskild back into the hallway and into Isak’s room.

His white t-shirt from Friday is still wet, so he finds the blue hoodie he was wearing yesterday and throws it on and zips it up without anything on underneath it. Isak probably won’t miss it, anyway.

He shuffles around Isak’s room for a few minutes until he finds a marker and a scrap of paper. He remembers how Isak thought the comics around his room were funny, and figures a drawing is more personal than shooting him a text, anyway.

He moves to sit in the chair in the corner of Isak’s bedroom, where he sinks down and crosses his ankle over his knee. He props the paper up on his lap, using a biology book that was on the floor as a hard surface. He taps the marker on the paper and chews his lip as he decides what to draw.  
  
He feels his subject of choice is appropriate. One panel, a drawing of Isak with a water drop in his throat, represents this universe. The second, another universe where Isak never had the water drop in his throat. If he never sucked at holding his breath, it wouldn’t have turned into a game. If it wasn’t a game, Even wouldn’t have kissed him. If Even didn’t kiss him, he wouldn’t be here, falling in love with a boy he’ll only end up hurting.  _That’s the better universe_ , Even thinks.  _The one where Isak doesn’t get hurt._

Even finishes the quick cartoon, scribbling some Nas lyrics on the top as a half - assed explanation for why he’s gone. He lays it on his Isak’s pillow, gathers his things, and leaves the kollektivet, thankfully without a second run - in with another one of Isak’s roommates. He doesn’t notice Noora sitting on the couch as he flies by her. Eskild’s words ring in his ears.

_That kid has been through too much already to add one more person fucking him over to his list._

**Author's Note:**

> sooo basically the idea behind this was to give Even one more reason to pull away other than “I don’t want mentally ill people in my life”. I think that that was just the last straw, but it was things like this that were just making him feel guilty. I think I did Eskild justice!? Also I want to explore Even’s relationship with his mom more because that’s something I think about on a daily basis.


End file.
